Spintheridae is a family of marine polychaete worms with a single genus, Spinther, containing these species:[1]

Spinther
Spinther citrinus
Scientific classification
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Spintheridae

Augener, 1913
Genus:
Spinther

Johnston, 1845
Species

see text

The animal lives as a symbiont on sponges.

Johnston's paper does not explain the choice of the name, but ancient Greek σπινθήρ means "spark." In images of the living animal, it appears to be surrounded by a cloud of pinpoints of light.[3][4]

References

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  1. ^ "Spinther Johnston, 1845". WoRMS. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
  2. ^ Yamamoto, R.; Imajima, M. 1985. A new species of the genus Spinther (Polychaeta, Spintheridae) from Japan. Bulletin of the National Science Museum Series A (Zoology) 11(3): 129-135
  3. ^ Andrade et al., Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 32, Issue 11, November 2015, Pages 2860–2875, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msv157
  4. ^ "Spinther".